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Gabrielle

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Gabrielle’s Bookshelves

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Gabrielle is Currently Reading

Gabrielle is currently reading

Gone with the Wind

by Margaret Mitchell

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in 2007

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Gabrielle said: " Oh this isn't a book you can just put down and walk away from! I finished it last night and then went back and reread sections, then this morning reread the ending, and have been thinking on it all day. What an impassioned, breathtaking story! I was Oh this isn't a book you can just put down and walk away from! I finished it last night and then went back and reread sections, then this morning reread the ending, and have been thinking on it all day. What an impassioned, breathtaking story! I was amazed at Mitchell's skill in coaxing me from thorough dislike of Scarlett to rooting for her happiness. Of course there's so much upsetting about her - could she be a little bit more concerned about her children?? - but then she seems so thoroughly human. So does Rhett, and many of the other characters. What is there to say really at the end except that I'm heartbroken, and in fact I think may be more upset than Scarlett herself, who is so self-assured.

This was my second time through, and I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to manage the racism the way I did when I was a teenager. Particularly in the beginning, I asked myself how far literature (and art in general) can be condemned for flaws inherent to the author's place in history, and have become outrageous only through the passing of time. I think some grace is due, which is how I got through all the disturbing and cringe-inducing moments basically every time a black person is on scene.

Well-documented flaws aside, I love the novel's pacing, the way Mitchell slowly stitches fabric and characters together, eventually keeping me up late at night because I couldn't stop reading. The tag line on my copy said 'the classic love story', and there are so many loves in this book. I don't think Scarlett's love for Tara really made an impression on me in my first read, or Mitchell's obvious love for the South. Misguided though some of her ideas may have been, it was helpful for me to have a picture of how confederates felt after the American Civil War, and the disenfranchisement they suffered. We learned about the war in my (Bahamian) history classes, but not on that level of detail.

Approaching this re-read I also wondered whether GWW would hold on to its place on my 'favourites of all time' list, and I think I have to say it does. It's an amazing story of human determination (on so many levels!), particularly of a woman to have the life she wants against all odds and the pressures of society. The action is non-stop as it covers about a decade of life, and Mitchell's writing makes you feel every sigh and wince at every barb. It's a painful, nostalgic, maddening book, and I definitely want to read it again! ...more "

Sep 20, 2020 07:49AM · see review

Gabrielle is currently reading

Lifestyle Business Playbook: How to Have Fun, Freedom and Fulfilment With Your Own Business

by Daniel Priestley

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Dec 05, 2025 06:19AM

Gabrielle’s Quotes

“I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States. But I am also concerned for their dignity, for the health of their souls, and must oppose any attempt that Negroes may make to do to others what has been done to them.”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

tags: america, dignity, race, violence

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“The glorification of one race and the consequent debasement of another—or others—always has been and always will be a recipe for murder. There is no way around this. If one is permitted to treat any group of people with special disfavor because of their race or the color of their skin, there is no limit to what one will force them to endure, and, since the entire race has been mysteriously indicted, no reason not to attempt to destroy it root and branch.”
― James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time

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